Critic Reviews

The Zoe Saldaña-led spy thriller’s sophomore run is fantastic, and stands as one of the year’s best TV shows.

De Oliveira might not be in their [Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman's] league yet, but if her performance here is anything to go by, she will be. Her Manuelos is a combination of barely suppressed rage and eagerness to please, and she’s very handy with a frying pan – as a weapon rather than an item of cookware. She also conveys an air of emotional vulnerability. You’re rooting for her within 90 seconds of her introduction.

“Special Ops: Lioness” has all the makings of a crackling good military spy thriller.

It’s too early to say where ‘Lioness’ will land, but it’s a promising beginning, arguably more absorbing than any of these recent shows, and hell, we’ll take that roar as long as it lasts.

The first episode serves as a mostly successful setup, but much of what the show will become remains top secret. There's also a question of how this budget will be spread around; is the opening scene with all its helicopters and explosions a sign of what's to come, or just a big show to get viewers instantly hooked? I don't know, but the intel we do have on the rest of the series says it has some promise.

Season 2 is certainly a step in the right direction for this series and leads us to hope Sheridan will pursue more thriller projects in the future.

Unlike “1923,” which moseyed at a glacial pace, director John Hillcoat keeps “Lioness” moving apace. It also helped that the first episode is a brisk 41 minutes, avoiding the bloat that mars too many streaming dramas these days.

There are hints here and there that it could become something better than the high-class hokum the pilot delivers.

The show is good at what it does. The military sequences are well directed, the camaraderie of the team is well drawn, and each episode leaves you keen to see what happens next. It’s an effective action thriller, albeit one that only goes skin deep – there is none of Homeland’s complexity and the dialogue is cheesy in a Top Gun sort of way.

Despite occasionally stretching plausibility, Taylor Sheridan’s latest event TV series mixes explosive espionage action with domestic issues to mostly absorbing effect.